Obama: U.S. to host transatlantic trade talks

6/17/13 10:39 AM EDT

President Obama announced at the G-8 on Monday that the United States will host the first round of talks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

He made the announcement after meeting with European Union leaders at the summit site in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland. Obama said the talks will start next month in Washington, D.C.

"I'm hopeful we can achieve the kind of high-standard, comprehensive agreement that the global trading system is looking to us to develop," he said.

He said that negotiations to expand the U.S.-European trading relationship could be tough, but he said it will be a priority for his administration, noting that a successful partnership will mean hundreds of thousands of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.